PUP & Jeff Rosenstock link for new song & co-headlining tour; Ekko Astral opening

Toronto punks PUP and their old friend Jeff Rosenstock have teamed up once again, this time for PUP’s new single “Get Dumber” and also for a co-headlining tour in late summer/early fall. They’ve dubbed it “PUP + JEFF ROSENSTOCK PRESENT: A CATACLYSMIC RAPTURE OF FRIENDSHIPNESS,” and making the tour even more exciting, it’ll be opened by DC post-punks Ekko Astral, whose debut album Pink Balloons was one of our favorite albums of 2024. Here’s what PUP’s Stefan Babcock says about “Get Dumber”:

I wrote “Get Dumber” in Jeff’s basement. I was house sitting for him while he was on tour. I recorded the first demo for it on his guitar using his mics and his computer. Maybe because the ghost of Jeff was in the room with me, I always imagined our voices on this song together, so I was very happy when he agreed to sing on it.

We recorded the vocals together, in the same room, facing each other. What that means is, we both had to nail it at the same time because we couldn’t really cut between takes. On the first take, he forgot a line in the second verse and said “ahhhhhh, lyrics” instead. I couldn’t finish the take because I was laughing too hard. Anyway, he practiced singing the correct lyrics but then we decided those lyrics kinda sucked and he should just stick to “ahhhh lyrics” because it’s funny and the song is called “Get Dumber.” We nailed it on the second take.

The song is the third single from PUP’s upcoming fifth album, Who Will Look After the Dogs?, which arrives 5/2 via Little Dipper/Rise, and you can pre-order the album on splatter vinyl in the BV shop. As for the tour, the announcement comes with a reminder of what happened the first time they toured together, 10 years ago with Modern Baseball:

* Jeff’s van broke down. Twice.

* Stefan fell face first into a pile of cactuses while he was hiking with Jeff and his face and hands swelled up to gigantic proportions

* The sold out Denver show got cancelled because a blizzard stranded both bands in Wyoming
Steve ate a weird gas station sandwich when they were stuck in Wyoming and ended up with food poisoning, spewing out of both ends

* All of Jeff’s gear got stolen out of his broken down van

* PUP cancelled the last week of shows because Stefan ruptured a vocal cord, and then PUP wrote a record called The Dream Is Over, the title being a direct reference to that tour

The dates PUP had to drop off included the NYC show at Webster Hall, which had Sorority Noise join in their place. The new tour hits NYC on September 13 at Brooklyn Paramount. Hopefully things go better this time!

Tickets for the tour go on sale Friday (3/28) at 10 AM local time, and the bands are also offering a limited amount of low-income tickets for this tour. They explain:

“We are offering low-income tickets for this tour! There will be a limited amount of tickets for every show available for $20 at the venue box office*. We know times are shit and hope this helps some people down to the ol’ gig who wouldn’t otherwise be able to! And we must admit, we completely stole this idea from Los Campesinos! who have been doing it for a while and encouraging other bands to offer this as well, so thank you Los Campesinos! for the inspiration.”

* Minneapolis, San Antonio, Austin and SLC venues do not have a box office. Please see band socials for alternate pickup locations.

Watch the old-school-video-game-style video for “Get Dumber” and find all tour dates listed below…

PUP — 2025 Tour Dates
05/07/25 – Birmingham, UK @ XOYO Birmingham*&
05/08/25 – Leeds, UK @ Project House*&
05/10/25 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz*&
05/11/25 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 (TV Studio)*&
05/12/25 – Newcastle, UK @ Newcastle University*&
05/13/25 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory*&
05/15/25 – Southampton, UK @ Engine Rooms*&
05/16/25 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town*&
05/18/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg*
05/20/25 – Cologne, DE @ Club Volta*
05/21/25 – Hamburg, DE @ Logo*
05/22/25 – Berlin, DE @ Hole44*
05/23/25 – Munich, DE @ Strom*
05/25/25 – Paris, FR @ Bellevilloise*
05/27/25 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Mon
05/28/25 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload
05/29/25 – València, ES @ Loco Club
05/30/25 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba
8/5/25 – Auckland, NZ @ Tuning Fork
8/6/25 – Wellington, NZ @ San Fran
8/8/25 – Brisbane, QLD @ Princess Theatre
8/9/25 – Sydney, NSW @ Metro Theatre
8/10/25 – Melbourne, VIC @ Northcote Theatre
8/12/25 – Adelaide, SA @ Hindley St. Music Hall
8/14/25 – Perth, WA @ Magnet House
9/3/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre ^
9/4/25 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee ^
9/5/25 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed^
9/6/25 – Detroit, MI @ Russell Industrial Center ^
9/8/25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE ^
9/9/25 – Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live! ^
9/10/25 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre ^
9/12/25 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem ^
9/13/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount ^
9/15/25 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner ^
9/17/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia ^
9/19/25 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz ^
9/20/25 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte ^
9/22/25 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern ^
9/24/25 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
9/25/25 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas ^
9/26/25 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
9/27/25 – Austin, TX @ Radio East ^
9/30/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren ^
10/1/25 – San Diego, CA @ The Sound ^
10/2/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium ^
10/4/25 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^
10/6/25 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom ^
10/7/25 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo ^
10/9/25 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell at The Complex ^
10/11/25 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom ^

* support from Illuminati Hotties
& support from Goo
^ co-headlining with Jeff Rosenstock, support from Ekko Astral